Every year, a list of school competitions is published on the website of the Ministry of Education. In the 2016-2017 academic year, their number reached 88. School Olympiads are held by leading universities of the country. The general list of school olympiads and the levels indicated in it cover the entire diversity of these competitions.
Who needs the Olympics and why?
What is the meaning and practical benefit of such olympiads? Most of them provide an opportunity for a student, even from the most remote region of Russia, to try their luck at enrolling in any of the country's most prestigious universities - from MGIMO and Moscow State University to Baumanka and St. Petersburg State University.
If you are the winner or winner of this intellectual competition and scored from 75 points and above, you can not worry about grades for passing the exam. They have no meaning now.
How the system works
There are different levels of olympiads, there are three in total. Moreover, the assignment is separate for each of the directions. What does it look like in practice? For example, the Olympics "Lomonosov" is held in the number of directions of the order of two dozen. Of these, only fifteen have the benefits of the first level, which assumes the maximum prize - admission to any specialized university out of competition.
The remaining five directions belong to the second of the levels. According to the terms of participation, the winner can add to his asset 100 points for the profile exam. The same rule applies to the third level olympiad.
Which of the privileges an applicant has the right to use is indicated in the rules for admission to a particular university. Some of them provide by no means small privileges to prize-winners of the 3rd level of olympiads. Others (like Moscow State University or MGIMO) pay attention only to the first level of the most prestigious competitions.
How to replenish the list
In 2016, the list of school olympiads included several new ones. Mention may be made of Robofest, the school olympiad of Innopolis University, and programming competitions. Future managers, students of music colleges and many others also participated in the tournaments. This list also includes the school Internet Olympiad in physics, conducted by three St. Petersburg universities.
Not only graduates, but also younger students, have the right to take part in such prestigious competitions. Their goal is not to provide themselves with benefits, but to try to test their own intellectual capabilities.
About changes
The All-Russian Olympiad of schoolchildren stands apart. Its organizer is the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, and the participants are over 6 million students. It is not included in the general list, but the results of passing the levels of the All-Russian Olympiad of schoolchildren are valid for admission to any university without exception. These competitions are a real chance for talented and hardworking children from any region. Winners of school competitions are allowed at the municipal level of the Olympiad. Here the selection is much tougher.
Since 2014, Order No. 267 of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation introduced a new Procedure containing detailed information on the rules for conducting and approving the levels of school olympiads. It does not apply only to the All-Russian Olympiad. And therefore, all previous orders concerning the approval of the annual competition rules, criteria for classifying them to one level or another, and samples of diplomas of prize-winners and winners are no longer relevant. They have lost their power.
What is contained in the new Order?
It determines, in particular, the timing and purpose of each of the Olympiads. Their conduct is organized for the development and identification among students of interest and abilities for creativity and scientific activity. Other important goals of such events are the promotion of knowledge and professional orientation of students.
Their dates are set within the academic year from September to March inclusive. Each of the olympiads consists of at least two stages. Conducting the final is allowed only in person. Any cash payments or participation fees are strictly prohibited.
Who organizes them
The organizers of the Olympiad can be the federal authorities in charge of education, as well as the authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, in addition, educational institutions that carry out activities according to the highest level educational programs, scientific and state organizations, as well as any public organizations operating in the field of education .
All interested parties are involved in conducting it - from educational and methodical associations to the media. The RSOS is in charge of analytical and expert procedures for organizing each of the olympiads - this is a brief designation of the Russian Council of School Olympiads formed by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation.
Who can become a participant in the Olympiad?
Participation in these competitions is assumed solely on a voluntary basis, exists in an individual form and assumes the presence of students in all major educational programs - both secondary general and basic general education. Persons mastering educational standards independently or on the basis of family education, as well as abroad, have the same right.
The All-Russian Olympiad, the passage levels of which suggest the most mass coverage of participants, perhaps gives everyone the most real chance.
Each of the subsequent stages involves the participation of the winners and prize-winners of the previous one. Anyone who participated in the Olympiads in the previous academic year, became a winner or winner and continues to remain a schoolboy (or to be at home or self-study), is allowed to participate in the current year without passing the qualifying stage.
What is forbidden at olympiads?
During their holding, none of the participants has the right to use any means of communication - electronic computer technology, any equipment (photo, video or audio), as well as reference materials, handwritten notes and any other means on which storage is possible and information transfer. The exception applies to certain subjects included by the organizers of the Olympiad in the list of permitted and marked in the requirements and conditions of its holding.
Another exception includes special technical equipment for participants with the status of a person with limited health capabilities (disabled person, etc.). If the student violates this procedure, as well as any of the conditions and requirements related to the competition, the organizer has the full right to remove him from the audience with the cancellation of all the results and deprivation of the right to continue participating in the current year.
The winners and prize-winners of the whole Olympiad are those who became such at its final stage. They are awarded with diplomas of the first, second and third degrees, respectively.
School Olympiads: levels
Now we turn to the issue that is most relevant for students and their parents. What are the levels of school olympiads, and by what criteria are they calculated? The determining factors include:
1. The number of subjects of the Russian Federation that nominated their representatives to participate in competitions. At the school Olympiad, each of them must submit participants in an amount of at least five.
2. Age of competing (takes into account the percentage of students in non-graduating classes in relation to the total number).
3. The levels of the olympiads are also determined by the complexity of the tasks and their creative nature.
Let us consider in more detail what requirements are imposed on olympiads of one level or another.
Level I
The subjects of the Russian Federation take part in such an Olympiad, the number of which should be at least 25.
As for the age coverage of participants, this criterion has a threshold value equal to 30% of students in non-graduate classes in the general composition.
Regarding the level of complexity and the creative nature of the proposed tasks, the final stage is required to contain at least 50% of them. This applies to advanced issues. And there should be at least 70% of the original tasks of a creative nature.
Level II
If we are talking about other levels of the Olympiads, then representatives of at least twelve constituent entities of the Russian Federation or two federal districts are required to take part in this. At the same time, at least half of the participants should be represented from the regions that are part of each federal district.
25% or more of the number of competing students must be students of non-graduating classes.
The level of complexity of tasks of an appropriate nature should be at least 40%. The volume of creative original assignments is half or more. All this also applies to the final stage.
Level III
In the degree of stringency of the requirements, the levels of the olympiads are in decreasing order. In this case, the constituent entities of the Russian Federation are obliged to take part in the competition by a number of at least six. Another threshold value of this criterion is half or more of the number of regions that are part of the federal district organizing the Olympiad.
The age of participants in the Olympiad must meet the following criteria: one fifth or more (i.e., from 20%) of all who participate are required to study in a non-graduate class.
As for the level of complexity of the tasks, the final stage is required to contain at least 30% of the total. The same amount is allocated to mandatory original creative tasks.
A complete list of all the 2016-2017 Olympiads, levels and conditions was approved by the Ministry for the current academic period until the date of September 1. The same procedure is observed annually. Citizens who have received accreditation as such in accordance with the regulations provided for by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation can work as observers at olympiads.
In addition, the new Order provides a detailed description of the samples by which diplomas for winners and winners are made.
What are the criteria for the selection of contests included in the list?
There are a lot of them:
1. The organizer of the Olympiad spends two or more years preceding the one in which the application for participation is submitted. If the Olympiad is proposed for inclusion in the list for the first time, the condition of not including another profile of the Olympiad of the same organizer in the mentioned list during the previous three years must be met.
2. If a different profile of the Olympiad of the said organizer in the three-year previous period was included in the list, then the organizer must conduct it according to the order of at least 1 year.
3. Tasks and tests at the Olympics are required to be creative.
4. Persons listed in clause 15 of the Procedure shall be provided with free access to participation in the event.
Other requirements
The official website of the organizer on the Internet must contain all the essential conditions and requirements regarding the conduct and organization of the competition. The tasks of the olympiads of previous years, detailed information about the winners and winners of the last year (at least) olympiad should be placed there.
The declared number of participants should not be less than 200 people. Winners and prize-winners at each stage of the Olympiad can be participants in an amount not exceeding 25% of the total. Of these, the winners of the first places cannot be more than 8%.
The organizer of the Olympiad is obliged to have all the necessary resources for its holding - methodological, personnel, organizational, material and economic and financial. The same requirement applies to the experience of such events.